Cherokee and Seminole Strategies against Indian Removal
When Andrew Jackson became president in 1828, approximately 125,000 Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole Indians lived east of the Mississippi (Goldfield 303). These Indians were known as the Five "Civilized Tribes" because many of them had adopted aspects of European and American culture, including Christianity ("Indian Removal" 1). However, these Indians lived on millions of acres of land desired by white cotton planters in central Alabama and Mississippi and, particularly, Georgia (Goldfield 303). The desire for their land only increased when prospectors discovered gold in Georgia in the 1830s. The result was the demonstration of the federal and state governments' Indian Removal policy, which included the now-infamous Trail of Tears. This paper explores the different strategies against removal practiced by the Cherokee and Seminole Indians.
Since Thomas Jefferson's presidency, American policy toward the Indians had been to allow them to remain east of the Mississippi so long as they became "civilized" ("Indian Removal" 1). The Cherokees, in particular, demonstrated such civilization. The tribe settled on land in north Georgia and the Carolinas. They divided the land into communally owned property and farmed it ("Cherokee" 1). They also had their own newspaper, educated their own children, and developed a system of writing their own language (Goldfield 303, "Cherokee" 1). Despite this demonstration of their "civilization," however, Georgia's treatment of the Cherokees in the late 1820s demonstrates the willingness with which the states were ready to ride roughshod over Indian rights to gain their lands. For example, in 1825, Georgia defrauded the Creeks out of most of their land in the state. Thus, when Georgia moved against their land in 1828, the Cherokees were determined to avoid the Creeks' fate (Goldfield 303).
The Cherokees based their strategy agains...